A New Generation
by miekhead
Summary: Artie's relationship with Claudia becomes strained when he fails to turn up to an open mic night. After an unfortunate turn of events, he must prove he is a capable father figure for the young agent.
1. Chapter 1

Prompt: Artie/Claudia family!ship, written for LunaDove on Tumblr. This will be a two-shot.

Disclaimer: I do not own Warehouse 13 or any of the characters depicted...I just play with them for a bit.

oxoxoxoxo

"Please…"

"No."

"Come on!"

"No."

"Artiiiiiie…."

Artie looked up from over his glasses and shook his head. "Do I need to lecture you on what happens when you use artifacts for your own personal satisfaction or are you going to let this go?"

Claudia gave her best pout and stood with her arms crossed, staring at Steve McQueen's motorbike with puppy dog eyes. "Come on, just a quick spin."

"Leena, tell her." Artie grumped and got back to his inventory checklist.

"Woah, I'm staying out of this." The innkeeper held up her hands with a smirk and folded them across her chest as she watched the two bicker. It had been going on for about ten minutes and there was no sign of either party giving in.

"Please…" Claudia begged, getting down on her knees and holding up her hands as if she were praying.

"Claudia," Artie groaned. "No! It's too dangerous and… no! You'll be killed!"

"But what a way to go!" Claudia chortled. Leena stifled a giggle behind her hand, spurring the young agent on. "Come on, old man… live a little. I'll be careful."

Artie sighed and took off his glasses, pointing them at the annoying little genius. "Do you even know how to ride a motorbike?"

"Is the Pope a Buddhist?" Claudia bit her lip.

"No!"

"Ah," she tugged on her chin. "Then nope. But I'm a quick learner, you know that…"

Artie looked down at the tesla attached to his belt and looked up at Leena to give the warning. "Oh umm…" Leena's eyes widened as she let out a splutter and she flung an arm around Claudia's shoulders guiding her away from the explosive middle-aged man. "Enough, I think." she whispered. "You don't want him to burst anything."

"Did I get to the "too far" bit?" Claudia grinned.

"Yep," Leena mirrored the infectious smile and rolled her eyes when Claudia clapped her hands.

"Awesome." The redhead shook her head and combined it with a victorious fistpump. "He really is too easy." She shouldered her bag and took a pair of sunglasses from her pocket, sliding them to rest them on the top of her head. "I'm clocking off. Gotta practice for tonight. You still coming?"

"Absolutely." Leena nodded confidently.

"And the others?" Claudia shuffled on her feet.

"If they get back okay, then sure…" the innkeeper shrugged. "Don't count on it though."

"Okay," Claudia let out a sigh before moving away gradually. "I'll see you later, tell Artie he needs to come too."

"I will," the innkeeper smiled. "I'll sort it out."

"Thanks," Claudia waved and scuttled off, disappearing out of the Warehouse. She opened the door to her car, and eased herself in with a heavy sigh. After a long bout of laryngitis had stopped her performances at the bi-weekly open mic night, Claudia had to admit that her first night back was actually pretty scary.

She'd practiced extra hard, her range had surprisingly improved for some reason, and tonight she'd treat the audience to a bit of Bowie and a Ramones mash-up. It was going to be ace, but she hoped Pete, Myka, HG and Steve would make it back home safe.

Myka and Helena were in Venezuela of all places, retrieving a ring that had once belonged to Alonso de Ojeda, the navigator, and conquistador of Spain. As well as being known for naming Venezuela, the governor captured and enslaved the indigenous people of northern South America and the Caribbean. The artifact was pretty straight forward in itself. Myka and Helena had found that his ring was made of gold and sapphires, and it caused people to fear the wearer immediately and comply with everything they said or commanded. What was most worrying, however, was the sinister implications of what would happen to a community under the artifact's influence and more importantly, the power the wearer obtained. A museum in Caracas had initially housed the ring, but a nosy security guard, having put on the piece of jewelry and realising his newfound hold over people, began to take advantage and was now running as mayor of Caracas. Myka and Helena had managed to snag the artifact, but current tensions between the US and Venezuela had caused them to get held back.

Pete and Steve, on the other hand, were in Canada at an auction to retrieve a John Constable painting that had been lost for a hundred years. The auction had been hugely publicized due to this and the stakes were high. Artie had noticed a blur on the photograph entered in the auction guide and sent the boys out to investigate. Pete had initially thought it was a waste of time, until he noticed the horse in the background galloping about happily on the oil based painted fields. The picture freakin' moved! He had been so excited that he was living in a "real life Harry Potter universe," that he had knocked over a vase dating back to 1902 and had to pay the minimum valuation price estimated by the auctioneer. Luckily they had just about enough money in the budget to purchase the Constable painting, and the damaged vase but the brief visit from a stormy Mrs. Frederic was enough to give Pete nightmares for weeks. He promised to himself that he'd never smash an antique ever again.

Most importantly though, Claudia wanted Artie there tonight. She'd planned a little dedication to the man who was so much like a father to her that every father's day, she spent about an hour in the store, looking at all of the cards with a distant look on her face. Artie would never accept a card, and it would be awkward, and he'd bumble and blush and it would be uncomfortable - but that didn't stop her from daydreaming that one day, he'd accept a father's day card easily and without a fuss and he'd know she was thankful for everything he'd done for her. Step-fathers got cards, right? This wasn't much different, was it?

Claudia turned on her iPod dock and grinned to herself as a cheesy Blondie track warbled through the speakers. She nodded, her confidence building and soon drove off, leaving a cloud of dust behind her as she pondered her return to the stage.

At 8'o clock, Claudia Donovan was close to tears. She propped her head up with a fist and watched the same-old-same-old man and his guitar, strumming out a dodgy rendition of Like A Rolling Stone. "Because that's never been done before…" she grumbled to herself and shook her head. Leena hadn't shown up. Artie hadn't. Pete and Steve's flight had been delayed and god knows where Myka and Helena were. She was so close to leaving when a soft voice next to her made her jump. "You're back."

Claudia turned slowly and saw a dark haired young woman leaning over her with a grin. She had a Pretenders ragged t-shirt on and long chains dangling from her neck. "Do I know you?"

"Nope, don't think so…" The woman chirped and invited herself to sit down next to the agent. She must have been only a few years older than Claudia, maybe twenty-five. "But I know you." She smiled. "You're Claudia."

Claudia's eyebrows rose and she let out a slow smirk. "Officially freaked. Tell me, kind stalker… You know me, how?"

The woman chuckled and took a sip of her drink. "You're kinda famous round here." she said. "That Beyonce/Human League mash up you did a few months back? Anybody who can do that is worth shouting about." The woman's nose was decorated with a ring piercing, her eyes a strange green, much like Myka's. She put out a hand. "Jessica."

Claudia stared at it and cautiously reached out to take it. "Well thanks…Jessica." she rolled the name around her mouth. "I'm not that good though," she tittered nervously. "You umm, you playing tonight?"

"Nope. Just watching." She said in that same creepy but strangely attractive way. "You? Haven't seen you round for a long time."

"Lost my voice," Claudia said, looking around for something…anything to fiddle with.

"Want me to get you a drink?" The woman asked, noticing the redhead's restless fingers.

"No. Thank you… Yes," she winced. "I mean…" Claudia sighed and looked towards the door of the bar. Artie and Leena weren't going to show. "Sure," she huffed.

"What can I get you?" the woman smiled.

"A coke, please."

Jessica laughed and shook her head, touching her arm briefly. "What can I get you?" she said again, throwing a pointed stare Claudia's way.

"A coke…" Claudia frowned. Jessica's eyebrow raised. _Fuck it_. She could walk home. "…with vodka." she smiled slowly at Jessica's hearty chuckle and watched the dark haired temptress saunter off to the bar.

Claudia leaned back in her chair and groaned, covering her face with her hands. She tried Leena's cell again but there was no answer. Artie's… nope. Nothing. She turned and watched her new friend chatting to the barman and rolled her eyes. She had a feeling this was going to be a messy night.

Leena stomped up to Artie's office and crossed her arms. "Queen Elizabeth I's make-up compact deactivated and dried. _Now_ can we get going?"

"No, no…" Artie shook his head and got up, fussing around the computer before throwing a static bag to the innkeeper. "You re-label these," he handed her a list. "I'm going to flush the gooery."

Leena stamped her foot and threw up her hands. "What is your problem?"

"What are you talking about?" he grumbled, refusing to look her in the eye.

"Claudia is nervous about performing and she really wanted us there tonight!"

"I hate bars." Artie gruffed. He turned and saw Leena was doing her angry starey face, her arms tightly crossed once more.

"Screw this," she cried, turned her back and began to walk away.

"Wh-what…where are you going?" Artie squawked.

"To the open mic." Leena piped. She sounded pissed. Super pissed.

He groaned, "Leena—"

"No, no," she keyed the pass code to the umbilicus and turned to look at the older man with stormy eyes. "You stay here with your beloved gooery." She spat, and with that, the innkeeper was gone.

"Geeze, how have I not met you before?" Claudia slurred slightly. "You have like… the exact same music taste as me," she shook her head in drunken fascination, watching as the dark haired woman swirled her finger around the back of her right hand. "Tickles…" she murmured and took another slurp of her drink with her free hand.

"Oops," Jessica grinned. "Say," she began carefully. "You wanna get out of here? We can jam at my place if you want."

Claudia bit her lip and pondered it for a moment before giving an overemphasised nod of the head. "Sure… this is cool."

"Yeah?"

"Mm," Claudia nodded again, looking a little like a parakeet. She got up on shaky feet and stumbled out of the bar with Jessica trailing closely behind. "Dude, what did you put in that drink?" She slurred uncontrollably now, feeling hands grasp at her back as she was guided to the woman's car. She gave a departing, slightly dumb wave to her own El Camino and sat down heavily with a groan.

"Something special," Jessica replied before slamming the door shut and locking it with her key fob.

Claudia frowned and tried to sit up, or at least release her seatbelt. "Fuck…" That wasn't good. She rolled her head to the side as Jessica sat in the driver's seat next to her. She could easily whack this bitch over the head and escape, right? Her hands fumbled again for the belt but it was no use. _Fuck!_ Her arms were like lead. She tried to panic, but even that was hard. "Who the frak are you, you crazy sonuvabitch?" she closed her eyes and focused passed the pounding headache she'd suddenly developed.

Jessica grinned and leaned over, pinching Claudia's cheek. "I must say, I'm surprised you're gullible enough to let a stranger buy you drinks," she shrugged. "But I guess if they're hot enough…" she looked down at herself and smiled again devilishly.

Claudia began to struggle as soon as she saw Leena's car drive onto the gravel. She wriggled and grunted, her arms lifting slackly in an attempt to at least do some damage to Jessica's face with her nails. The other woman just cackled and started the car. Claudia's head pressed against the window and she prayed to whatever mystical being was out there for Leena to recognised a panicked, scared aura in the distance. "As for your earlier question… Jessica MacPherson," the brunette chirped and she put her foot down as they zoomed out of the car park. "I think you knew my father." she watched dark eyes dampen and turned her eyes back to the road. Claudia closed her eyes and moaned, making a last attempt at her seatbelt but failed miserably. "And you're going to tell me how to get into the Warehouse…" Jessica's eyebrows raised and she bit her lip. The bite turned into a haughty grin. "Well, you will eventually."

TBC.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay so I suck. This was supposed to be uploaded ages ago and I was suffering from a block so bad it made me cry. So! I finally pulled my weight and when I'd finished it, it was 4000 words long. Therefore, LunaDove, you can have two chapters to make up for me being lame.

On with the story!

oxoxox

Her head was pounding, she couldn't move her arms and she couldn't breathe through her mouth. That's all Claudia knew about what was going on. Oh… and she couldn't see. She let out a groan and winced as the sound came through her nose. She sounded gross. Moving her lips, she discovered that her mouth had been taped and her back was lying against something cold and hard. She moaned again, trying to use her shoulder to shrug off the lamely applied blindfold from her eyes. She succeeded and slowly opened her tired lids. Luckily, she was shrouded by darkness and her eyes easily became accustomed to her surroundings.

"Good, you're awake."

She heard the sound, but had no idea where it had come from. Craning her head to the side, she squinted over to the corner of the dark, eerie room and noticed Jessica sat with an unhurried expression on her face, laid out on some kind of beanbag. She wrapped her lips around the end of the lit cigarette in her hand and after taking a drag, let out a slow smile. The smile of a sadist. One thing Claudia figured there and then was that this woman was not going to move. Nope, she was going to stay there, on that fucking beanbag of all things and let Claudia get a sore neck. "The quicker you tell me how to get into the Warehouse, the sooner I'll let you go." She licked her lips. "Of course, I'll be going with you." she quickly added. Claudia let out a muffled sob and strained against her ties, trying to move her lips up and down to release the tape. "Oh I'm sorry," Jessica demurred, placing a hand on her chest before getting up and unceremoniously ripping off the tape.

Claudia bit back tears at the pain and shook her head to rid herself of the sting. She cleared her throat and smacked her sore lips a few times before staring Jessica in the eye. "I thought I was crazy, you know? Institution and all… but you, Lady Cuckoo, are something else."

She thought the other woman would react but Jessica merely slit her eyes and blew a puff of cigarette smoke into her face before going to sit back down on the beanbag. "You tell me how to get into the Warehouse, I let you go," she reminded.

"Crazy and a dumbass," Claudia rolled her eyes, struggling unsuccessfully to release herself from the ties of the pillar in the middle of this bizarre little dungeon. "Where the frak am I?"

"Questions…" Jessica got up and hovered around the pillar, putting her face close to Claudia's, "are answered after you tell me how to get into the Warehouse."

"So let me get this straight," Claudia had one eye closed to stop the headache from making her whimper in pain, "You want me to tell you how to get you into my home, and I go…home." Claudia chuckled mirthlessly. "Yeah, somehow I don't think you inherited your father's brains."

Jessica's cocky grin vanished and she scowled at the ground before moving over to stand close to the redhead. "Don't speak another word about my father or I'll kill you like you killed him."

"Me?" Claudia shrieked. "I didn't kill him! Dude, you have your story super twisted! What the hell—" She was cut off by a firm hand across her face and her chin was held strongly as Jessica slapped another piece of tape over her mouth.

"You have the most irritating tone to your voice," Jessica noted pensively. She flicked a hand at the younger woman and went back over to the beanbag, kicking her feet up and grabbing a magazine. "The Warehouse can wait. You can stay there for a little longer until you're sorry."

Claudia's head fell back against the sturdy pillar and let a tear roll down her face. She was in some freaky dungeon with a psychopath who had obviously not thought things through. Though Claudia had to admit, Jessica's vulnerability gave her hope that she'd smartass her way out of this horrible situation. What's more, she had no idea how long she'd been away from home.

"She wasn't there." Leena huffed as she threw down her purse onto Artie's desk and crossed her arms.

"Oh good," Artie chirped back and leant back in her chair. "She's probably made a friend or found some boy to kiss." He watched her eyes narrow and flash with anger and a hint of jealousy. He chuckled and stood up. "Hot cocoa?"

Leena squawked. "Really? You don't care that she might have been pissed off about you not going?… and yes please."

Artie smirked, pottering over to the kettle and filling it up at the small sink. "No, I don't. She's old enough to play a few little… concerts, or whatever you wanna call them without me holding her hand."

Leena scoffed. "You really think that? What about seeing how far she's come? How her practice is paying off!"

Artie sighed. "When she asks me there, I'll go." He poured the woman a cup of instant cocoa, stirred, and handed over the mug.

She grumbled her thanks and sat down in a chair finding the arguing tedious and deciding to shut up…for now.

When Claudia hadn't come home a day later, Artie was trying not to panic. He was, of course, failing and had begun to snap at each and every person he held dear at the Warehouse.

"We'll find her," Myka soothed. "Pete, did you try her phone again?"

He lowered his eyes and nodded. "No signal. Nothing."

She sighed and brought her hand to her head, trying to think. "Okay, you and Leena carry on trying with getting through to her, Pete and I will go to Red's and see if they saw her." She placed a hesitant hand on Artie's shoulder. "We'll find her."

He sighed and moved away from the affection, sitting down in his chair with a heavy flop. Myka shared a brief look with Leena who thinned her lips nervously. She nodded slightly, mainly to keep up their spirits and disappeared with Pete out the door.

"What was that?" Jessica grinned at her captive, leaning closer and tilting her head so that her ear was aligned with Claudia's mouth.

"Water… please."

"What was that?" Jessica sneered and brought her face even closer.

"Please… I need water." Claudia hung her head, forcing back a sniffle. Now it had definitely been days. "Please." She couldn't feel her hands, they'd been tied for so long. The pain agonizing thud in her back as she was held up by tape against the pillar. She shifted slightly and hissed out. "Please… I told you, I'll help you get in. Why are you doing this?"

"Because you don't understand how it feels to find out you have a father, and then know that," Jessica's words faltered slightly but she regained her confidence after a breath, "that you and your little Warehouse team took that away from me."

Claudia swallowed and shook her head hastily, struggling against the tape. "Jessica, no…"

"Yes." The unhinged woman began to walk away. "You did," she muttered over her shoulder. "You and Artie Nielsen."

"He didn't want him dead, you have to listen to me." Claudia begged. "He wanted him alive, goddamn it!" Tears of frustration, hunger and exhaustion began to roll down Claudia's cheeks. "Please… just l-let me go home. I'll offer you anything. Just… please."

Jessica turned and for a second looked bare, vulnerable… almost childlike as her eyes held Claudia's gaze. Quick as a flash and it was gone, replaced with a coldness that Claudia hadn't seen before. Despite herself, Jessica rummaged through her bag on the floor, ignoring the beeps coming from the various hacking machines and computers in the corner of the room. She took out a bottle of water and approached the younger woman slowly. She held the bottle up to Claudia's lips and watched the inventor splutter and cough hasty gulps. "Easy…" she murmured.

Claudia's eyes closed in pain. The softness to this troubled woman's voice made everything worse and she held down wracking sobs. Jessica getting to the Warehouse was better than this. There, they were armed. She'd be safe… warm. Home. "Let me get you into the Warehouse." she spluttered. "Let me go home."

Jessica still had a hand on the woman's cheek and frowned inwardly. "Will you bring me to Artie?"

"Of course," Claudia coughed. "Of course."

Jessica's face hardened and she nodded, walking over to the computers. She cracked her knuckles and sat down. "Tell me what to do."

Myka Bering never thought in a million years she'd see Artie cry. Ever. But after Claudia had been missing for three days, her phone out, her Farnsworth out of range for some reason… the brunette had found the man slumped over his desk, his shoulders shaking. "Artie…" She rushed over to him and placed a hand at his shoulder.

"She's gone, hasn't she? She's really gone?" He brushed his face with his fingers grumpily. "Leena said… she said and she was right all along."

"What did she say, Artie?" Myka bent down, knowing she had to take advantage of the man's sleep deprived nature.

He sniffed and stood up huffily, walking over to the computer where the software beeped away in search of Claudia's Farnsworth. It was the third search in ten hours. Just in case. "She said Claudia really wanted me at the open mic night and I didn't go."

"Why?"

"Because…. Because…" The old man blew out a breath. "Because how am I supposed to act, huh? How… how am I supposed to speak to her after she sings her heart out. Do I tap her on the back? Do I give her a hug? What do I do? What am I supposed to do, Myka?" He huffed and paced angrily, raging and flailing his arms about. She merely smiled and crossed her arms.

"You mean how do you be the father she needs?"

"Don't say that word," he glared, pointing blindly in her direction.

"That's what it is!" Myka grinned triumphantly. "You don't know how to be the father figure she needs and wants you to be and you're making her suffer for it."

Artie sagged down onto his chair and held his head in his hands. "And now…"

Myka swallowed heavily and returned to her previous position, bending down next to him. She placed her hand on his shoulder. "And now we go find her. However we can, okay?" He huffed and swivelled his chair towards the search on the computer screen. "Artie? Okay?"

"Sure, sure…" he nodded, waving his hand. In his mind, though, Artie decided to turn it up a notch and pondered how to bring the agent home. Wherever she was.

tbc.


	3. Chapter 3

Claudia Donovan didn't know what she'd done to deserve this, but she was now sat in a chair, her hands unbound and found herself tucking into a Big Mac and fries. Though she was tied to said chair by her legs, biceps, waist and shoulders, Claudia was able to use her weak forearms to lift the food to her mouth and in that moment, that was enough. At first, the young agent had planned to knock Jessica out with a blinding punch but after not eating for three days, she was merely too weak.

"You need to go slower," Jessica huffed, typing into the computer.

Claudia sighed. "You know how long it took me to learn at least one programming language?" she said between mouthfuls. "Five years. And by judging your computer skills, you had five years less than me."

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Just tell me, will you?"

"Why don't I just take you there, instead? It could solve so much trouble." Claudia smirked, taking a slurp of her coke. The sugar was going straight to her head.

Jessica turned and scowled, but managed to look slightly conflicted before looking back at the computer. It was too risky. She'd let Claudia eat something and untying her would mean she was then able to fight back. It would be all for nothing. "Keep going." She said coldly.

Claudia huffed but swallowed another handful of fries and mumbled, "try creating a buffer overflow."

"And what's that?" Jessica demanded impatiently.

"So you can gain Warehouse user status," Claudia rolled her eyes like it was as easy as tying a shoelace.

"But I don't know how to do that!" Jessica shrieked petulantly.

"You gonna let me help you, then? Or are you going to keep me tied to this chair sat all the way over here?" Claudia watched as Jessica crossed her arms. Her perfectly jet black hair was now disarrayed and her t-shirt was unbelievably creased. She did look like him, Claudia noticed (now she could see the woman in a better light and being less drugged). She wondered what it would be like to be told you did have a father and after that moment of hope, then find out he'd been killed. She frowned as she found herself being dragged across the room, the chair scraping along the floor as Jessica pushed her towards the computer table like she was sat in some wheel-less wheelchair.

"Okay." Claudia cracked her knuckles and began to type a set of numbers on the screen, something discreet. Unnoticeable.

Jessica scrutinized closely at the mix of letters and numbers and watched them flash across the screen. One by one, set by set.

Artie heard the beep on the computer and looked up, eyes wide. There, for the first time in a week was his chess game with Claudia, bleeping away and ready for input. "What the…"

Leena looked up from her archive reading and frowned, trotting over to the computer. That, in turn, got Myka's attention. After asking around at Red's, they had found no leads on where the computer geek could be. It turned out, Claudia had left with a woman… pretty willingly, as the account had said, and that was where the trail finished. Without more information on who this mystery woman was, they wouldn't get anywhere. The only thing they had found that sombre day was Claudia's car.

A new game suddenly started to play and Artie frowned when Claudia's knight jumped over her pawn, moving forward to B5. "She can't move her knight like that. What the…"

Myka peered at the animated chessboard and frowned before realization dawned. "She's changing the rules." She murmured quietly, tears sprinkling her eyes. "Artie, play your move."

"What?" He frowned. "What's happening?" He looked around, confused but when nobody answered him, he moved his pawn.

Claudia wiped the sweat from her brow as the GPS reader fed more coordinates to her. She hid a smile as the hack she'd created finally let her insert a new set of coordinates. Artie must have made a move.

The "game" went on, and Artie joined the dots with a chortle. "MYKA!" He bellowed, unaware that she was standing right behind him.

Myka winced but nodded. "I'm here, Artie."

"Jot the numbers down. Jot them down," he patted the table desperately.

"Oookay," Myka shared a look with Leena and tried not to smile. He was almost hysterical in his excitement. She did as he said, though, and memorized each of Claudia's moves until she had a string of numbers. She frowned. "But this could mean anything."

Artie frowned, trying not to let that put him off as he watched Claudia checkmate him. "And that one? Did you get that one?"

"C5." Myka scribbled down the defeating move and frowned. "I don't get it."

Artie let out a wondrous smirk. "I do." He snatched the piece of paper and the pen before dashing over to the Midwestern grid map in the back of the room. He followed the coordinates, crossing various marks off before pinpointing an old abandoned high school, unused since the 1970s. "There."

"Are you sure?" Myka asked gently.

"I'd bet my life on it." Artie nodded, still smiling. He moved away from Myka and Leena and grabbed his jacket.

Myka rolled her eyes and turned to Leena. "Make sure that chess board doesn't move, okay? If it does, note them and ring me." Leena nodded and watched them leave hastily. She'd have to break it to Pete who was currently moping while doing inventory that they left without him but she guessed he'd deal if it meant them bringing Claudia home.

She didn't have to wait long. After persuading Jessica that she'd managed to "hack into" the Warehouse, Claudia held in a sigh of relief when the door burst open and Myka and Artie dashed into the old basement.

"Hands in the air." Myka ordered to Jessica who was looking around in shock at the intrusion.

Claudia looked down at her feet. Part of her felt sorry for this tortured woman. Then she remembered what Jessica had done to her this whole time and felt the anger soar. Jessica's eyes darted to Claudia and through the confusion was this niggling feeling. It had all been a set up. The civility, the submission… the hacking. "Hands. Up." Myka said again. Jessica dropped the pair of scissors she was holding and placed her hands behind her head. Myka backed up behind her, getting the cable tie ready from her pocket. What she wasn't expecting was the sudden blow to her head as Jessica's elbow rammed into her temple. She flew back and landed in a clumsy heap on the floor, her head banging against the stone floor. It wasn't long before she was out cold.

Claudia whimpered as she watched Jessica advance towards Artie like the mad woman she was and she called out his name just in the nick of time. He aimed a tesla at her forehead and shook his own head, the imminent threat that he would most definitely shoot causing her to stand still. "I will ask this once and only once, and you will answer me as soon as I finish." He said, taking a cautious look over to Myka who was still unconscious and Claudia who was taped to the chair. "Who. Are. You?"

She laughed bitterly and was about to shake her head when the strange looking gun in Artie's hand shifted in his hand. "Jessica."

"Jessica what?"

"MacPherson," she mumbled and he let out a smirk.

"I knew it. I knew that's why you would be here. This is his old school." He shook his head. "Give me one good reason why I don't shoot you here and now."

Jessica shrugged, looking like she was close to giving up. "Well you killed my father, so it wouldn't surprise me if you topped me off too."

Artie's eyebrow raised and he pursed his lips. "I didn't kill your father, Jessica. I can promise you that much." He paused. He watched the girl become so close to snapping and pulled the gun back slightly. "Who's your mother?"

"You don't get to talk to me," she bit out, walking slowly towards the desk and towards Claudia. Claudia watched the two converse and rolled her eyes. Trust Artie to start a conversation with the woman keeping her hostage.

"Okay," he nodded, watching the woman getting closer to Claudia with every step. "No talking." He held his hands up. "What do you want?" He asked, noticing Jessica retrieve a knife from her pocket. She bent down and knelt behind Claudia, placing it close to the young agent's neck.

With a loud sniffle, she declared, "I want my father back."

Claudia whimpered and grit her teeth. "You never had a father." she said and paused, the relief of not feeling the sharp sting of the blade making her cry out in relief. "You didn't. Your mother had a one night stand… with James MacPherson. He was never there for you. Your stepfather was." she sniffed. "That's what you told me, right? Jessica…"

"He sent me a letter. My mom gave me a letter." Jessica shook tears from her eyes, pressing the knife flush against Claudia's throat. "He wanted to know me."

"But it's too late." Claudia whispered. "I didn't kill him, Artie didn't kill him." she thought on her feet. "He died because he went to the Warehouse. He entered the Warehouse, and he'd been warned that if he did, his blood would turn to acid… Jessica he got into your head like he did to everybody else. He hurt everybody."

Jessica made a small cut with the knife and sobbed. "My dad…"

Claudia's lower half wriggled in an attempt to get away from the pain, watching Artie grumble at himself for taking too long. He upped the intensity of his tesla with a flick of the finger and yet, now… Jessica was just too close. "Jessica, you can fight this! Don't turn into him!" A clang was heard and Jessica dropped the knife, peering down at the hand that released it, her fingers betraying her mind from its thoughts. "He realized!" Claudia screeched. "He knew he'd done wrong but it was too late. He was too late, you don't have to do this. Artie? I hated him. He made my brother disappear… and then he brought him back." Claudia gasped. "But now he's just this annoying father figure… and I love him so damn much, but Jessica he's not MacPherson. He is not the man who fathered you, so you don't have to do this."

Artie would have acted sooner had he not felt the unnatural surge of pride course through him at the young woman's words. When he noticed Jessica falter slightly, he finally brought up his tesla and aimed for her shoulder, hoping that he missed Claudia in the process. His aim proved perfect, taking her out without another word. She slumped to the ground and only then, Claudia began to sob from relief. He scrambled up and unravelled the electrical tape from the chair, then took off his cardigan and rolled it up, pressing it against Claudia's neck.

The young woman fell into his arms after being released from her confinement. "Hey, hey," he soothed as she curled up and cried into his shoulder. "Hey… you're okay. We found you."

"You came." she sniffled. "I thought I was toast."

"Nah," he smiled and cuddled her close, pressing the cotton garment tighter against her neck. He grabbed the knife from the floor and untied her wrists. "We got this, you just needed to hang on for us." He grabbed her hand as he began to move away and pressed it against the cardigan. "Hold this nice and tight, okay?" She rubbed her nose with her free hand to try and quell the tears, nodding as she watched him go and tie up the disturbed unconscious woman on the floor. When she was secure, he moved over to Myka whose breathing was still steady, her eyes closed. "Myka?" He patted her face. "Time to wake up."

"Uh?" Came the murmur, and the brunette blinked open her eyes, admittedly looking rather drugged.

"There you are," he grinned. "How's the head."

She hissed as she sat up, clutching the side of her head with her hand. "What the…"

"Yeah, we're getting you to a hospital." He stated, shaking his head. Finally, he'd called for backup and in a scene so much like Helena's arrest, the three watched Jessica getting carted off by the Regents and their right hand men. Myka was being strapped to a stretcher, an icepack on her head, while Claudia sat on the edge of the ambulance, wincing as they cleaned the surprisingly deep cut on her neck. Artie watched from a far, his blood boiling. Even after his death, and after forgiving him, part of Artie still hated James. He'd obviously targeted this girl… who he had claimed was his daughter, so much so that she had changed her name instantly. What was more worrying was that later on it was revealed that Jessica had started to sell artifacts on to the outside world, but not ones from the Warehouse. Ones she'd found herself. Small business, sure… but that damn threat of James MacPherson was always there… always waiting.

Artie stood at the door of the hospital room, smiling at Claudia who was now sat cross-legged on Myka's bed, grinning and telling jokes. Myka had been kept in overnight for observation to her head injury. "You see?" Myka patted her knee. "Chess works for everything."

Claudia snorted, "Only if you break the rules." She gave a weak smile, and was glad that Myka shared it.

Slowly, Artie left the room to give the girls some space. He wasn't going to lie, he was also pretty hungry. Either way, he'd had to admit to himself that Claudia's little speech in the abandoned school moved him to the core, and if that meant spending Tuesday and Friday evenings at Red's bar in Univille listening to her sing? Sure. He could do that. She was buying the drinks, though. And the snacks.

The End.


End file.
